Mike Johnson Once Worked with Notorious ‘Ex-Gay’ Org Exodus
CNN, Johnson, an attorney by trade, gave legal advice to Exodus International. The pro-conversion therapy organization was the leader in the “ex-gay” movement, which sought to change people’s orientations through a mix of aversion therapy, talk therapy, and religious-based counseling.Exodus eventually shut down in 2013, with its president, Alan Chambers posting a public apology for the “pain and hurt” the organization’s advocacy caused.Chambers would later go on an apology tour, appearing at LGBTQ and Pride events, including Capital Pride, and speaking with LGBTQ news outlets, including Metro Weekly, about what led him to change his stance on conversion therapy, which he had previously hailed as effective, citing his own marriage to a woman.He later came out in favor of bans on conversion therapy for minors.